Home to "The Whipper," Hawkins House of Burgers is a cornerstone in Watts (Mark Albano/Neon Tommy)

Home to “The Whipper,” a large bun stuffed with two large patties, cheese, hot link sausage, pastrami and anything else you can imagine, Hawkins House of Burgers sits on the corner of the Imperial Highway and Slater Street. Across the street the Nickerson Gardens housing projects, home to the Bounty Hunter Bloods, overlooks the restaurant that has been voted having “the best burger in Los Angeles”.

Tina Brown, an assistant to the executive of a health and dental insurance company, is not a native from Watts, but she makes the trek to Hawkins. She is also aware of the struggles that the people in the neighborhood of Watts go through.  She has spent her life in the L.A. area, and sees L.A.’s politicians as not taking the people.

After she overheard me talking to another man in the restaurant about the current state of Los Angeles, Brown started yelling her two cents passionately right over him. I gravitated to her, and she maintained that same intensity throughout the entirety of our conversation.

What do you see as the top issues facing Los Angeles, and why?

I would change the fact that they need to start putting more jobs in L.A., they say the do, but they always start with Simi Valley, they always start way out. They never get to L.A. They put money into education way out, I used to go to school in the valley, and they would do that all the time. And basically L.A., is still L.A.

So nothing changes in L.A.?

Nope, and that’s one of the reasons parents bus their kids way out. That was one of the reasons when I was in school my dad bussed me out because he wanted me to get a better education…Even just simple stuff [stay the same], like the streets.

So what would you do about the streets?

I would pave every street that’s black: Normandie, Vermont, they did half of Century. Van Nuys [has] always been raggedy, like they don’t invest no money into those areas, like you go to other cities: Bellflower, Cerritos, Lakewood, like the outer cities. Streets are paved, you know?

Then you come to L.A. and it’s like a bubble?

Right, right, tearing up your cars.

What do you think Mayor Garcetti should do to address your top priorities?

I think that they should stop lying, and saying that they are going to support everything that they know is needed for the community, and actually start doing it. They’ve been saying they were going to get more jobs, but, I mean, how many more jobs are there?

Do you have family or friends that have been looking for jobs, maybe they were hit by the recession and lost work?

I have people that have been looking for jobs for like three to four years. And still can’t find work. So they got into school. They got an education. They had no choice.

Who did you vote for the in the mayoral election and why?

I didn’t vote for anyone because the politicians are always lying. They always say what they are going to do, but they never do it. They just lie to get into office, and then it’s like whatever. What’s the point of voting, you know?